I'll admit that I'm cheating here. Basically, because I have reviewed all their studio albums, I've just assembled my reviews together, copy-pasting them to this page. I will include links to when they were originally reviewed, but I haven't changed the text, nor have I relistened to the albums in a row for the sake of a retrospective. Still, I figured it would be good to have all the reviews for this band in one place, and if they release a new record (and I review it), I'll be sure to add it here. As much as I like this band, they've had their ups and downs, and I think this franken-article will catalog them well enough.
(originally reviewed March 4, 2019)
I remember coming cross Dragonland when I first discovered power metal and was just checking out any band with fantasy elements. At the time, I didn’t think much of them, but liked a few of their songs, and then moved on to other bands. It had been quite a while since I’d really listened to them, so I decided to revisit their first album.
And it’s pretty much what I remember it being: epic, cheesy, and clunky. While the band clearly shows talent, with lightning fast guitars and a sweeping symphonic scope, the songwriting and lyrics never seem to find a good flow, which makes following the story and melodies difficult. The songs require close attention to really piece it all together, but it rarely feels rewarding, resulting in an album that’s overall quite mediocre.
(originally reviewed March 14, 2019)
Last time, I listened to Dragonland’s first album, so now I’ve giving the second one a go, and to be honest, it’s really more of the same. Epic grandeur, lighting fast guitar riffs and solos, sweeping symphonic scores, all telling a fantasy story.
This album does seem to have some better songwriting than the first one, though. There are still a few rough lines, as the lyrics are forced into melodies, but things seemed to shift from moment to moment a little more naturally, making it easier to follow. No real surprises, but a better effort from clearly talented musicians.
Oh, and their cover of “Neverending Story” is amazing!
(originally reviewed April 1, 2019)
Yup, on to the next Dragonland album. With this one, they set aside their epic storytelling for a more standard set of songs, and I think this one is their strongest yet. While the lyrics remain melodramatic and the tone sweeping and epic, the songwriting feels stronger than their previous efforts.
Still, the band is still telling stories, such as the mini epic of “The Shores of Our Land,” the Charles Manson inspired “Calling My Name”, and the ambitious, mostly instrumental three-parter “The Book of Shadows.” However, the songs that stand out to me are the title track “Starfall” and “The Returning,” maybe because they’re more straight-forward power metal songs. Oh, and the Helloween cover is solid as well.
What sets this album apart from their previous efforts, though, is how they push into progressive metal territory. While they’ve had dashes of it in the past, mostly with their full album stories, here the songwriting on this album shifts better from mood to mood, augmenting their power metal chops. Definitely an improvement!
(originally reviewed September 15, 2021)
Back in early 2019, I started relistening to Dragonland, reviewing their first three albums in quick succession. I had planned on carrying through, but I guess other bands grabbed my attention instead. However, when I decided to write up a few reviews, I realized that Dragonland's fourth landed on 2006, giving me an opportunity to pick them up again. I really do think the band has matured by this point, resulting in some solid symphonic power metal.
Right off, the production really stands out. The guitars really crunch, letting the symphonic flourishes stand out and keep things together. At this point, their progressive and power metal styles have really merged together, keeping the melodic stylings of the latter, but allowing for good shifts in mood and tempo of the former. Jonas Heidgert's vocals remain powerful, but he gets a few interesting duets with guest singers Jake E from Dreamland and Elize Ryd of Amaranthe. They even bring in Jimmie Strimmell for some harsh growling on a few tracks, and it fits.
"Contact" was actually the first Dragonland song I heard and it really blew me away. It's been a favorite of mine ever since. Other solid tracks include the symphonic opener "Supernova" and the melodramatic and neo-classical "Beethoven's Nightmare." It is a bit weird that they end with a three-part instrumental epic, with large symphony-only sections and sound effects. It's not bad, but definitely goes all over place, like a movie soundtrack, making it hard to follow. Still, the rest of the album is pretty solid, and shows a band really exploring their sound and improving their songwriting.
(originally reviewed October 15, 2021)
Yup, I thought I'd take this opportunity to finally wrap up the Dragonland discography. I remember hearing a lot of good things about this album, but I never got around to it until now. The result is very much an evolution of the band's sound, now returning to their Dragonland story with all the things they've learned.
Right off, this feels like they've finally reached the epic heights the early albums were striving for, as this has massive atmosphere and majesty, much like Rhapsody of Fire. They've also recruited a few other singers to take on a few roles, making it a bit like Avantasia as well. However, it's all very well produced, and along with the improved song-writing and vocal melodies, this is easily the best of the story-based albums. "Shadow of the Mithril Mountains" sets the stage well, "The Black Mare" is a great travelling track, and "Dûrnir's Forge" has these epic, slow riffs, with a proggy section in the middle that's really interesting.
I don't know if it's their best album, overall, as Astronomy is just about as good as this one. However, Astronomy had some more progressive metal elements (not always a bad thing) and this clearly has the fantasy power metal style in spades. I did notice that the guitars weren't as prominent on this one as previous albums, as the emphasis was on the orchestral elements, but there were some decent riffs and solos throughout. While it remains unknown as to whether the band will put another album out, at the very least, Under the Grey Banner would be a great note to end on, as it's a very solid collection of symphonic power metal.
(originally reviewed December 5, 2022)
As I have reviewed every single Dragonland album on my blog, it has been interesting to watch them evolve and improve over their discography. However, after being quiet for so long, I assumed they had broken up, so I was quite surprised to discover they were working on a new album, and the singles were definitely sounded promising. Now that I'm finally sitting down with the album, I've found that Dragonland hasn't changed at all, continuing their tradition of bombastic, story-driven symphonic power metal.
As expected, the story covers the entire album, though they've gone for a science fiction tale, this time (if the cover didn't make that obvious). Of course, they've done sci-fi before, most notably on the album Astronomy, but this is their first, full-length concept album in that narrative genre. Their story starts with a civilization heading for the stars for a new world in an effort to leave behind a destructive past. However, upon arriving at the Nightstar and igniting it, they summon an enemy fleet eager to wipe them all out. Under-powered, the protagonist fleet resort to bringing out an ancient destructive technology they had hoped to leave behind them, but find they have to use it, despite the cost it brings. Lyrically, things haven't really changed much, swapping out the swords and knights for blasters and starships. Much of what they've done before is brought back here: soaring vocals and power metal riffing and solos, augmented by excellent orchestral arrangements. Seriously, this album is very lush and rich in how it's weaved together. The biggest difference I felt was the increase of more spacy synthesizers, not only providing extra ambient layers, but getting in on the noodly solos as well. However, they don't sound out of place at all with the sci-fi concept they're going with. I also noticed that many of the guitar solos weren't as shred-heavy as before, often focusing on more melodic phrasing.
While their story-driven style may not click with everyone, and I admit I sometimes struggle with it myself, they remain a unique band in the genre with their songwriting and orchestral flourishes. Some of the more narratively-driven songs aren't as catchy, but they don't feel like a waste either, as each song progresses the story, so it is definitely worth listening through from beginning to end. It goes through a lot of dramatic dynamics, from the hopeful "A Light in the Dark" to the ominous "A Threat from Beyond the Shadows," and the doomy "Journey's End." However the singles "Flight from Destruction" and "The Power of the Nightstar" are definitely the standouts, as individual songs go. It's kind of comforting to know that, despite an 11 year gap, Dragonland hasn't missed a beat, carrying on as if they had never left.
And that's all they've done so far. While it may be easy to dismiss them as clones of Avantasia or Rhapsody of Fire, but I think they do things just differently enough to stand on their own. I know if they decide to carry on, I know I'll be checking them out, as they've grown on me over time. I hope you don't mind the assembled nature of this article, but this may be something I do again, as I continue to review all kinds of bands, both past and present.
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